Poor Musicianship

Touchy subject this is. One of the tricky things about being a music business consultant is that I deal in providing advice to my clients. Advice when it works best can be appreciated and accepted only when there is respect for the advisor. Most of you reading this and/or my other columns have never met me, and probably never will. So, with a topic like musicianship, and its impact on being successful, you could very well ask yourself “what does this businessman know about playing music?”

Well for starters, most of the businessmen and women that musicians deal with at record labels, booking agencies, radio stations, distributors and stores are not musicians either. ‘Frustrated’ musicians...maybe. ‘Wannabee’ musicians...could be. ‘Appreciators’ of music...definitely. In my case, after 12 years of record retailing, 10 years of alternative radio work, and 8 years of running my own record label....I, like my music business peers, have listened to countless thousands of hours of recorded and live music; and you know what? After all this I know a thing or two about musicianship, and I can tell you straight out that everyone on the business side of music can recognize a competent, incompetent, or master musician....and when it comes to auditioning a new CD, or a new demo tape, it doesn’t take more than 10 seconds to judge you in some way.

We can tell when a musician knows his/her instrument. We can tell when a vocalist has something magic going for them or not. We can tell when a drummer can’t drum, when a bass player doesn’t know a bottom from a hole in the floor. We judge you, perhaps unfairly at times, but we judge you, and our prejudices, tastes, and attitudes toward musicianship can have a profound effect on whether or not you become successful.

You can never go wrong being a master musician. It certainly is no guarantee of success to be one, but it certainly is a deterrent to success if you are NOT a master musician on your instrument. Obviously we can also spot developing talent. We categorize you when we first hear you play. Recently while attending a major music conference, I was at a club talking to someone when a band came on, and from their first chord, to the awesome lead vocalist’s unique voice, the room turned their heads toward the stage to catch the amazing talent being showcased. At another showcase, the opposite took place. As soon as this band took the stage and started to play they emptied the room. Why? because they played horribly. The guitar was out of tune with the bass, and the drummer couldn’t even keep a steady beat. They were undeserving even of the word ‘amateurs’.

In case you haven’t noticed there are a lot of bands out there these days. More and more bands and acts every year than the year before. Thousands and thousands of musicians in thousands and thousands of bands. Buy a clue...be the best you can be. Don’t go out there too early and ‘practice’ in front of an audience.

Being a musician is being an artist. Artists develop their skills, in many cases over a lifetime of learning, and refining, and perhaps even redefining their skills. This issue of musicianship is rarely discussed anymore. Perhaps because ‘raw has been a very fashionable for awhile now. But as exciting as a ‘raw’ performance can be, it can get tired very quickly too. Please note here. There is a big difference between ‘raw’ and ‘simple’. For example, playing simple, straight forward rock n’roll is not as easy as it sounds. In fact, from Credence Clearwater to AC/DC to the Ramones to Korn...simple can sound deceitfully easy....believe me it isn’t. Investigate and you will see that some of the most simplistic sounding music has been rehearsed and rehearsed for countless hours by the dedicated musicians who’s ‘simple’ music has and will last a lifetime.

The business of music demands more than the hobby of music demands. If you are content jamming around with some friends, and playing occasionally...don’t confuse this with the determination you must eat for breakfast if you really want to make your living as a musician. Pop music may be disposable music to a certain extent, but the making of it can make or break the promotion and marketing of it.

However long you may take to make your music, it is a blink of the eye compared to the potential life span of that music when it either makes a lasting impression on a listener and becomes part of the fabric of our culture, or becomes a ‘passing fancy in a midnight dream’.

Being a master musician simply means being dedicated enough to your profession that you care enough to play your very best...all the time....every time. Do that and you stand a good chance at enduring long enough to make a lasting impression not only on the industry gatekeepers who you will inevitably encounter, but potentially on generations of music fans.

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